Narrative:Following a flight from San Francisco, the DC-8 made a normal approach was, crossing the runway threshold at 131/133 knots. The airplane touched down on the wet runway in the vicinity of the GCA touchdown point and reverse thrust was applied immediately. Wheel brakes were applied as soon as the nose wheel touched the ground. Ground spoilers and reverse functioned normally and speed fell to 60 knots IAS. At this point reverse thrust was cancelled. Deceleration thereafter was very poor and reverse with full power was re-applied. The emergency airbrake system was used but the aircraft ran off the end of the 8,900 feet runway and came to rest after the main gear entered a ditch 9 feet. wide and 6 feet deep, situated 150 feet beyond the end of the runway.
The airplane was shipped back to Douglas in Long Beach, CA where it was repaired. The DC-8 was repaired as a Series 53 and received the new registration JA8008. It returned to service early 1963.
Classification:
Runway excursion
Photos
accident date:
25-04-1961type: McDonnell Douglas DC-8-32
registration: JA8003
accident date:
25-04-1961type: McDonnell Douglas DC-8-32
registration: JA8003
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does
not display the exact flight path.
Distance from San Francisco International Airport, CA to Tokyo-Haneda Airport as the crow flies is 8230 km (5144 miles).
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.